ORIENTATION TO MEDIATION IN PORTLAND, OREGON

This article describes an orientation to mediation used in the Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland, Oregon. The role of the judiciary makes this program unique, and the orientation has increased the number of agreements reached. This orientation helps parents make decisions about mediation and use the process more effectively.     

Potential and pitfalls in establishing the provenance of Earth-related samples in forensic investigations

Earth scientists are often asked to establish or constrain the likely provenance of very small quantities of earth-related material as part of a forensic investigation. We tested the independent and collective interpretations of four experts with differing analytical skills in the prediction of sample provenance for three samples from different environmental settings. The methods used were X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, the assessment of pollen assemblages, and structural characterization of organic matter at the molecular level. Independent interpretations were less accurate than those where multiple techniques were combined. Collective interpretation was very effective in the assessment of provenance for two of the three sites where the mineralogy and plant communities were distinctive. At the other site, although the mineralogical analysis correctly identified the Triassic mudstone soil parent material, Carboniferous spores from domestic coal were initially interpreted as deriving directly from bedrock. Such an interpretation could be a common pitfall owing to anthropogenic redistribution of material such as coal.     

A: Reviews: general

REVEALING THE HOLY LAND: THE PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPLORATION OF PALESTINE. By Kathleen Stewart Howe. Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, 1997. 144pp. $US 60 (hb), $US 29.95 (pb).

THE EMERGENCE OF THE ‘ABBASID AUTOCRACY: THE ‘ABBASID ARMY, KHURASAN AND ADHARBAYJAN. By Fukuzo Amabe, Kyoto University Press, 1995 xi + 322pp.

THE BUKHARANS: A DYNASTIC, DIPLOMATIC AND COMMERCIAL HISTORY, 1550–1702. By Audrey Burton. Richmond, Surrey, UK; Curzon Press, 1997; xxxvii + 664pp. ISBN 0 7007 0417 5. £65.00 (hb).

THE REVOLUTION OF 1908 IN TURKEY. By Aykut Kansu (No. 58 in Social, Economic and Political Studies of the Middle East and Asia). Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1997. 341 pp.

THE MIDDLE EAST IN GLOBAL CHANGE: THE POLITICS AND ECONOMICS OF INTERDEPENDENCE VERSUS FRAGMENTATION. Edited by Laura Guazzone. Basingstoke and London, Macmillan Press Ltd and Instituto Affari Inter‐nazionali, 1997, xiv + 285 pp., 8 maps, £45 (hb).

THE QUEST FOR HEGEMONY IN THE ARAB WORLD. THE STRUGGLE OVER THE BAGHDAD PACT. By Elie Podeh. Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1995

ISTITUZIONI DEL MONDO MUSULMANO. Giorgio Vercellin. (Biblioteca Studio, n. 27). Torino, Einaudi, 1996. 419 pp.+ vxx. 36,000 It lire.

THE FORBIDDEN MODERN: CIVILIZATION AND VEILING. By N?lüfer göle. (Critical Perspectives on Women and Gender). Ann Arbor, The University of Michigan Press, 1996. 173 pp. $15.95.

WITHIN THE CIRCLE: PARENTS AND CHILDREN IN AN ARAB VILLAGE. By Andrea B. Rough. The History and Society of the Modern Middle East Series. New York, Columbia University Press, 1997. 263pp.

OVERCOMING TRADITION AND MODERNITY: THE SEARCH FOR ISLAMIC AUTHENTICITY. By Robert D. Lee. Oxford, Westview Press, 1997. 216pp.

ARABIC TODAY: A STUDENT, BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN SPOKEN AND WRITTEN ARABIC. By John Mace. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 1996. 287 pp. £19.95. 1‐hour audio cassette to accompany the book £5.99.

THE SOCIOLINGUISTIC MARKET OF CAIRO: GENDER, CLASS AND EDUCATION. By Niloofar Haeri. London, Kegan Paul International, 1996, xviii + 272pp.

THE EGYPTIAN THEATRE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY (1799–1882). By P. C. Sadgrove. Reading, Ithaca Press, 1996. ix + 214pp.

PALESTINIAN IDENTITY, THE CONSTRUCTION OF MODERN NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS. By Rashid Khalidi, New York, Columbia University Press, 1997. 304 pp. $34.00/£22.95.

RELIGION, DEMOCRACY AND ISRAELI SOCIETY. By Charles Liebman. Reading, Harwood Academic Publishers, 1997. 115 pp. £13.00.

TO RULE JERUSALEM. By R. Friedland and R. Hecht. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1996. 554pp.

IRANIAN INTELLECTUALS AND THE WEST: THE TORMENTED TRIUMPH OF NATIVISM. By Mehrzad Boroujerdi. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 1996. 256 pp., incl appendix, glossary, bibliography and index.

DISCOVERING THE QUR'AN: A CONTEMPORARY APPROACH TO A VEILED TEXT. By Neal Robinson. London: SCM Press, 1996. 332pp., £16.95 (pb).

THE BOOK IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD: THE WRITTEN WORD AND COMMUNICATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST. Edited by George N. Atiyeh. Albany State University of New York Press, 1995. xviii 305pp.

RIVERS OF DISCORD: INTERNATIONAL WATER DISPUTES IN THE MIDDLE EAST. By Greg Shapland. London, Hurst & Company, 1997. 183 pp. 6 maps 5 tables, (hb) £37.50.

MOSHE SHARETT: BIOGRAPHY OF A POLITICAL MODERATE. By Gabriel Sheffer. New York, Oxford University Press, 1996. 1065 pp. £65.

CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE MIDDLE EAST (Volumes 1 and 2). Edited by Augustus Richard Norton. Leiden: E.J. Brill 1995–1996 Vol lx + 328pp, Vol 2 xvi + 353pp